Consciousness and Spiritual Power

With a soft cry, An Ping abruptly sprang up from his seat, rubbing his swollen head with one hand. It seemed the books on the shelves farther back had requirements—perhaps he needed to reach the corresponding realm first.

Seeing Lin Ximeng and the other students staring straight at him, An Ping awkwardly scratched his head and sat back down. With his head still swollen, he no longer tried to meditate.

Tang Wulin, seated in front of him, looked as if he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to speak. He turned back around and continued trying to meditate.

Lin Ximeng walked around the classroom, occasionally giving a student some quiet guidance or softly answering a question.

When she came to An Ping's side, she looked at this child who seemed so out of place among the others. They were all six years old, yet he had none of the other children's chirping vitality. No matter when it was, he was always quiet.

She spoke softly. "An Ping, stay behind after school."

Hearing Lin Ximeng's words, An Ping was dazed for a moment, as though he had returned to his previous life. He nodded and answered, "Okay." Then he lowered his head again and studied the contents of his Martial Soul. Seeing An Ping quietly turning the pages, Lin Ximeng gently shook her head and moved on to the next student.

Not long after, Lin Ximeng walked up to the podium and clapped her hands, interrupting the students below who had yet to successfully enter meditation. She said gently, "All right, class is over. We'll stop here for today. Those of you who haven't succeeded, don't be discouraged. You all have Innate Soul Power, so you'll succeed soon enough."

Red Mountain Academy was only a junior Soul Master Academy, unlike those intermediate and advanced boarding academies. For the students' safety, classes ended at four in the afternoon.

Groups of six- and seven-year-old children began leaving the academy in twos and threes. An Ping followed behind Lin Ximeng, unsure what his homeroom teacher wanted from him.

They arrived at a room that appeared to be Lin Ximeng's office. Once she had sat down, he asked, "Teacher, why did you ask me to stay behind?"

"An Ping, I've noticed that you never speak with your classmates. I know you don't have parents, and that the grandfather who took you in has also passed away, but you should interact with people more often. That way..."

In short, Lin Ximeng saw that An Ping was always quietly alone, staying outside the circle of people, looking as though he did not want to communicate with anyone. She did not want him to develop a withdrawn personality.

An Ping only wanted to say, what was there to talk about with a bunch of little brats? Wouldn't it be better for him to read and study properly? But Lin Ximeng was concerned about him, so it was not appropriate to say anything. "Okay, I understand. Thank you for your concern, Teacher."

"All right, it's getting late. Hurry home. It won't be very safe if it gets too late." Lin Ximeng nodded and said nothing more.

After bowing to thank her, An Ping hurried home. There was hardly anyone on the road. He summoned his Martial Soul and used Dual-Mindedness, reading while he walked.

As he walked, he suddenly heard a burst of hurried footsteps. A group of young men ran past him. An Ping glanced at them but paid them no mind.

After turning a corner and walking only a few steps, he saw Tang Wulin, covered in dust, along with a silver-haired Little Girl with her head lowered.

An Ping inwardly gave a quiet sound of surprise. What a coincidence. I just happened to run into the scene where Tang Wulin played the hero and saved the female lead.

Because the Little Girl had her head lowered, neither An Ping nor Tang Wulin saw the trace of Seven-colored Light flash through her eyes and vanish.

By the time An Ping approached, he happened to hear their conversation.

"My name is Tang Wulin. What's your name?"

"My name is Gu Yuena. Thank you for saving me."

Gu Yuena? Isn't she Na'er? What the hell?

An Ping froze for a moment, his footsteps pausing briefly before returning to their original rhythm. He lowered his head to look at his book, not wanting too much contact with the so-called male and female leads. Unconsciously, he quickened his pace and passed them by.

"An Ping, does your house lie along this road too?"

Hearing Tang Wulin's voice, An Ping paused, gave a quiet "Mm" to indicate that it did, then quickened his pace again. Right now, he only wanted to leave this Place of Right and Wrong.

He hurried home, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it down. After calming the lingering shock in his heart, he followed the principle of not thinking about things he could not figure out. Shaking his head, he decided eating was still more important.

After dinner and a bath, An Ping lay on his bed and continued studying the Energy Circulation Flow Meditation Method in the Book.

"I've already sensed Spiritual Power. Next, I need to try controlling it, then construct a Spiritual Power Model. I'll start by trying to control it." An Ping softly muttered as he repeatedly flipped through those pages.

He acted as soon as he thought of it. Rolling over, he found a comfortable position to lie in. The Meditation Method did not require any particular posture for cultivation, so he naturally chose whatever felt most comfortable.

As he began the breathing method, his thoughts gradually settled. He did not sink directly into the Sea of Consciousness like he had during the day.

As a faint throbbing sensation appeared between his brows, his Spiritual Power naturally became clear. Like a vortex, it swirled around a single point. Having successfully sensed his Spiritual Power, An Ping had the feeling that if his consciousness sank into that point at the center of the vortex, he would enter the Sea of Consciousness again.

An Ping did not try to enter the Sea of Consciousness again. At this stage, the most important thing was to control his Spiritual Power.

Following the method recorded in Energy Circulation Flow, An Ping began trying to control his Spiritual Power, but the results were far from satisfactory.

In the terms of <Relationship Between Consciousness and Spiritual Power>, An Ping's Spiritual Power activity was not very high.

Although Spiritual Power was a force that existed within the human body and therefore belonged to the body, everyone had different constitutions, so their Spiritual Power activity also differed. Spiritual Power activity determined how difficult it was to control it with consciousness.

To control Spiritual Power and construct a Spiritual Power Model, one first had to activate it. Only when Spiritual Power activity reached the required standard could consciousness control Spiritual Power more effectively.

Activating Spiritual Power required contact between consciousness and Spiritual Power, guiding it over time. As its activity increased, it would naturally become easier to control.

To activate his Spiritual Power, An Ping carefully used his consciousness to touch it, trying to guide it into forming some simple patterns within his Spiritual Space.

Unexpectedly, guiding Spiritual Power for the first time was extraordinarily difficult. Only when his consciousness became blurry and drowsy did he manage to draw out a thread of freely usable Spiritual Power from the vortex. Before he knew it, he fell asleep.

Ring, ring.

It was not until the alarm rang the next day that An Ping felt a lingering trace of fatigue in his consciousness.

He slapped the alarm silent, brought it in front of his eyes for a look, then hurriedly climbed out of bed and changed out of his pajamas. After a quick wash, he grabbed two slices of bread and a bottle of milk before heading out.

Just as the class bell rang, An Ping stepped into the classroom right on time. Under the gazes of his classmates and teacher, he leisurely walked to his seat and sat down.

That morning's lesson was not related to Soul Masters, but rather a cultural course related to mathematics. After listening for a bit and flipping through the textbook handed to him, he found it was only at the level of elementary school from his previous life.

Thinking of how difficult it had been to guide his Spiritual Power before, An Ping decided to see whether there was any method for activating Spiritual Power.